A new Kaiser Family Foundation survey about the U.S. role in global health finds the public puts meeting basic needs such as improving access to clean water and food and helping children at the top of the priority list for U.S. global health spending. Addressing the Ebola outbreak in West…

This survey about the U.S. role in global health finds.Americans’ top priorities for global health funding focus on meeting basic human needs such as improving access to clean water and food and helping children. Addressing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is also a top priority. Some high profile issues such as malaria and reproductive health rank further down the list.. A large majority of the public overestimates the share of the U.S. federal budget spent on foreign aid.

In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses what the public was more concerned about in November, Ebola or the results of the midterm elections. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. According to this month’s index, the public remains captivated by news coverage of the Ebola virus. Fewer, but still substantial shares, report following the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and the results of the midterm elections.

The October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found that majorities of the public said that if a case of Ebola were diagnosed in their area, they would have a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of confidence in state, local, and federal health authorities to contain the disease and prevent it from spreading. Given the evolving news story, we re-surveyed the public from October 17-19 to determine whether confidence in health authorities to prevent the spread of Ebola has changed in light of more recent developments.

Democrats, Republicans and Independents All Support Major U.S. Role Fighting Ebola in West Africa, About Equally, to Protect Americans and to Save Lives As the nation grapples with its first cases of Ebola transmitted in the U.S., a new Kaiser Family Foundation Tracking Poll finds that personal worry about Ebola…

With the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and individual cases in the U.S. and Europe making international headlines, the latest Kaiser Health Policy News Index examines Americans’ attention to the Ebola crisis, awareness of key facts about the disease, and views of the U.S. role in addressing Ebola in Africa and at home.

The 2013 Survey of Americans on the U.S. Role in Global Health examines the American public’s views, knowledge and opinions of U.S. efforts to improve health for people in developing countries. The fifth in a series that began in 2009, the survey explores the public’s views on global health spending and foreign aid, their priorities for the U.S. in world affairs, and the attention they pay to the issue of health in developing countries.

The American people are busy trying to make ends meet and take care of their families and they are constantly bombarded by messaging and spin. They rarely have a full understanding of policy issues and debates. Often it is their strongly held beliefs, whether based on accurate or inaccurate perceptions,…